1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assembly for packaging and dispensing a product, particularly a liquid product and to its use for packaging and dispensing a cosmetic, pharmaceutical or dermopharmaceutical product. More particularly, the invention relates to a packaging and dispensing assembly of that type which comprises a variable-volume reservoir of the type with a pouch or follower plunger for the product, integral with a mounting base on which a manual pump, surmounted by a push button equipped with a dispensing orifice, is fastened.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, manual pumps are crimped onto a flask or onto a neck located at the top part of a mounting base capping a product reservoir. Customarily, a pump of this tripe is delivered with a metallic crimping ring intended for fastening the pump onto the neck of the base. The crimping of this metallic ring onto the neck requires a free space around the neck so that crimping may be carried out. The result of this is that the crimping ring is substantially higher than the top part of the base, which increases the total height of the assembly and is unattractive. Moreover, an assembly which includes a pump perched on top is difficult to use. If the assembly is held at the reservoir, the length of the index finger intended for pressing on the push-button may be insufficient to allow easy maneuvering of the dispenser.
In order to provide a more compact dispenser which may be used more easily, the Applicant has already produced a product dispenser equipped with a base in the shape of a dish engaged in a container containing the reservoir. To avoid problems when crimping the pump onto the base, the pump is crimped onto a transfer component which is itself fastened onto the base. This type of dispenser is described in EP-A-0,486,355 and EP-A-0,628,355.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,727 describes a tube equipped with a dispensing head provided with a collar in which a dispensing pump is mounted by means of snap-fitting. The valve body and the inner wall of the collar are equipped with mounting elements capable of interacting with each other. This device requires a pump, the body of which has fastening elements extending radially outwards and which have to be specially designed. Moreover, a collar provided with a circular groove has to be shaped so as to complement the fastening elements of the pump body, which is difficult or uneconomical to achieve in practice. In addition, a fastening technique of this type may be inadequate in terms of the seal between the pump body and the collar.